William O. Cross was born around 1828 in Massachusetts, and he moved to Berkshire, New York, by 1855. In 1860, he was working as an edge tool maker, and he owned $400 of real estate and $500 of personal property. He married a woman named Alvina sometime in the 1860s. By 1870, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property. He died sometime after 1875.